Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/18

 of things many serious accidents have occurred, accompanied, in more than one instance, with loss of life. However since the establishment of the corporation an attempt has been made to improve the streets, by making drains for the water to escape. This attempt, humble as it is, has been hailed as the beginning of a better order of things, but the original error, in laying out the streets of so great a width, will always tell disadvantageously against the town, as the expense of forming them into roads, and keeping them in good repair, will always be nearly double what it would have been, had they been of a more moderate width, while in summer the dust is far greater than it would have been, had the surface on which it is formed been smaller.

The river Yarra, which I mentioned as bounding Melbourne on one side, is a deep, but rapid river of about forty or fifty yards wide, the banks of which are lined with gum-trees and mimosas. There is a natural dam across it at the place where Melbourne is built, which has been rendered more effective by art. This serves to keep the water above it fresh: this water is of excellent quality. Up to this point the tide flows, and the river is navigable for ships of two hundred tons burden; and many of the vessels from Van Dieman's Land, and the steam-boats from Sydney and Geelong, take in and discharge their cargoes at the wharf. The anchorage for ships of larger size is at Hobson's Bay, which is about seven miles from Melbourne by the river, though not more than four or five in a direct line. Between these points small steamers ply, carrying passengers to and from Williamstown, and towing up lighters